Hasbro Marvel Legends Series Zabu Build-a-Figure Wave Official Images and Info

[AndyL]

On 2/21/2024 at 2:22 PM, Reno said:

Like others I'm not at all surprised to see that this wave is fan channel only. I honestly expect this to become more and more the norm going forward as it's evident to me that the big box retail stores like Target and Walmart are souring on carrying figures in general. I think that they've just been burned too much. I'm sure that they'll continue to carry the sure fire sellers like Spidey, but that might be it in the future. My local SuperWalmart basically quit already after the Black Panther Legacy wave and DC Multiverse Batman Future State figures. My local SuperTarget has been better than that - but are still clearly being far more selective and have skipped several entire waves that weren't fan channel only.

Personally I blame the obligations and requirements placed by Disney on the owners of the master license. A certain amount is expected to be used for movie and television product and I'm sure there's budget and quality clauses that require Hasbro to give make them give priority to them as well. While I am a fairly successful small business owner I'm not even going to pretend I know anything about the inside politics involved in this case. But there is an obvious problem. Any consumer with any kind of brain can look at crap like the Eternals wave, The Captain Marvel waves, The Shang-Chi wave and the Multiverse of Madness and Quantumania waves and tell you those were going to be DOA. And you can throw in most of the Disney+ waves as well. This is not MCU bashing because I do collect and there is some pretty good stuff but a lot of that stuff looks forced and just like they're grabbing for anything to put in the wave. They just don't put forth a product that looks cool to most customers. After the usual serious collectors like us grab up all the comic based characters and the few MCU characters we like the rest of the public picks over the cool looking comic characters and the MCU product just ferments. If anyone has any doubts just go to any Ollie's near your area. And regardless of exactly how much ML product is on the shelf at least 90 percent of it is MCU/Disney+. Then in the absence of content in a year like the one we're in now we get treated to this Legacy and these Infinity Saga deep dives garbage which based on my recent trips to Target and WM the last few days are already dying on the vine. There's this massive disconnect between the consumer and the higher ups on not only Disney and Hasbro but also the buyers in mass retail that still has them believing movie and television tie-ins are automatic profit. In today's world is just not the case. You need only look at Hasbro's own trends within the last few years. Aside from the movie/TV waves associated with ML just look at other properties. Dungeons and Dragons. All movie based products are all at discount stores now. The sad state of affairs of all Star Wars product is on display every time you go to the store. G.I. Joe movie product was abysmal but the non-movie product sells like hotcakes. It's because everything that comes out is new and cool looking and creative and it didn't come from a garbage movies that nobody cared about after they left the theatre. Much less care to purchase the products. To me it's not a quality of product issue it's a selection of product issue. And it starts at the top and it all goes back to an old outdated movies/TV equals automatic profit. Hopes upon hope that this MCU light year is a banner year for ML and somehow somewhere maybe someone in the main office at Hasbro makes that connection. Like I said not bashing MCU and it's fans because I am one to a lesser extent but there's only so much you can get out of sub par shows and you can only get so much out of rehashing those characters that were popular at one time.

[since83]

Not saying it's dying today or tomorrow. Just seeing writing on the wall. There was a surge of all collectibles during Covid that has petered out, and things are slowing down. But we don't know how these companies will react. This line has been canceled before. Plus people are collecting Transformers, TMNT, He Man, Thundercats. And Joe's are ramping way up taking a ton of the interest. If you read comments sections of any toy site, goodwill toward Hasbro is not just on the wane, it's pretty bad. So yeah, like I said, I'm not feeling  as confident about the future of the line. But it's not gone yet. If those of us that collect keep supporting it it'll be around a bit longer for sure.

[TheArrow]

On 2/22/2024 at 2:26 PM, since83 said:

Not saying it's dying today or tomorrow. Just seeing writing on the wall. There was a surge of all collectibles during Covid that has petered out, and things are slowing down. But we don't know how these companies will react. This line has been canceled before. Plus people are collecting Transformers, TMNT, He Man, Thundercats. And Joe's are ramping way up taking a ton of the interest. If you read comments sections of any toy site, goodwill toward Hasbro is not just on the wane, it's pretty bad. So yeah, like I said, I'm not feeling  as confident about the future of the line. But it's not gone yet. If those of us that collect keep supporting it it'll be around a bit longer for sure.

Hasbro sucks.....cyclically, it seems.  They "roller-coaster" up and down, in and out of crap and gems.  it's not just divisions/departments either, it's the company overall.  They get into a phase of producing quality stuff and then backslide into cheaper product, as if someone yells out: " hey we gotta cut budgets/save some pennies this quarter!!".   When their stuff is good, it can be very very good......when it is trash, well...........we wish it was otherwise.
if you want a window into how the line is doing, look at the breadth of it......all the ancillary stuff.  the different layers- cheaper kid toys, props, Haslab stuff, the number of waves, the numbers of deluxe items, various exclusives and SDCC items......it's all a yardstick.  When those extra items end, then you need to get worried about the line ending because all that announced stuff leads the line by about 6 months to a year.  
So, at present, the line looks to be in reasonable health.

[TheArrow]

On 2/21/2024 at 9:43 PM, JayC said:

They get a name, you expect someone at Target knows who Ka-Zar really is? 

Hasbro probably provides a character profile sheet to retail buyers so they can assess if the specific figures or wave swill be popular or not.  They've got decades worth of appealing cover and promo art for a  lot of these characters, even if it's just classic imagery. That does not mean the buyers will necessarily be familiar with them, but that they will not go in blind ordering a wave.   But someone like Kazar or Ikaris isn't current, true, so I'd suspect they'd be assessed by how toyetic they appear to be.  You can generally tell the era a comic was printed in by the cover, and so the appeal to a demographic can be reasonably guessed, They just hope that assessment matches the audience demand. 
It IS guesswork, and they will probably under-order to their minimum to play it safe, but it sure ain't no science.

[Sidewinder]

I preordered Cable and Wolfsbane. I decided to pass on Kazar since I already have the SDCC box set.  

[ADour]

Decided to turn to one of my favorite hobbies. Expressing my grievances with disappointing Marvel Legends releases via digibashes:

[Psychosomatic]

I have been collecting Legends since the very beginning, and this wave recaptures the excitement of the old random Toybiz waves, and I love it. There will always be things we wish were different, but I think Hasbro gets it right way more often than they don’t. Hope to see a classic Adam Warlock, Valkyrie, Original X-Men, and Marvel Monsters soon. 

[Jmacq1]

Yeah getting the distinct impression that at least the comic BAF waves are gonna be Fanazon exclusives going forward.  MAYBE the MCU BAF waves might still hit stores, or upcoming movie figs may all end up like the refreshes we're getting now:  No BAF piece but MAYBE slightly more accessories/paint apps.

The good news seems to be that this model is letting them swing a little wider on character choices and wave mixes. There's been some darn good stuff for comic fans in these last few (comic BAF) waves, to say nothing of three newly-sculpted BAFs in a row.  They really seem to be trying to cap off wishlists and finish off teams.

The bad news is that this kind of thing almost always means a line is on the wane.  Not surprising with a line this old.  We may only have a couple or three good years left, but it's looking like they might be really good years, though if experience is any indicator whatever the last wave or two end up being are probably going to be very hard to come by.

[leokearon]

On 2/23/2024 at 11:39 PM, ADour said:

Decided to turn to one of my favorite hobbies. Expressing my grievances with disappointing Marvel Legends releases via digibashes:

Already looks better

[Lord_Scareglow]

On 2/23/2024 at 6:39 PM, ADour said:

Decided to turn to one of my favorite hobbies. Expressing my grievances with disappointing Marvel Legends releases via digibashes:

Oh well that looks right, that's better, I actually would have been more into this figure had they done it the way you did, this figure seemed to suffer from the "it's blue, but it's supposed to be black" syndrome.

Hasbro Hire this kid!

[Emnems80]

IDK what's worse with the Iron Man figure, the choice in the color or the reused MCU legs with pins in them....

[Jormungand]

I'm glad this figure doesn't come with a BAF part, thank you Hasbro for doing me a solid.

[MeGrimlock78]

It's funny, because I just re-read AXIS and forgot about Tony becomimg superior.

[Ironspider428]

Ok, is Superior Iron Man a Jim Lee Storm situation? I've always seen him as white, not silver so I'm not seeing the issue with the color.

[leokearon]

On 4/8/2024 at 4:45 AM, Ironspider428 said:

Ok, is Superior Iron Man a Jim Lee Storm situation? I've always seen him as white, not silver so I'm not seeing the issue with the color.

It's mostly been shown to be silver or at least look more metallic even with a reflective shine

[raziel0203]

While I'm admittedly not overly exited for any particular figure from this wave, they are all looking great. That Thor figure is something special and the Cable figure looks like it just jump off a comic panel. I've said this before but I'm really loving the quality and consistency Hasbro has been putting out lately.

[since83]

I was excited for this figure, but the more I see him, the more I'm not. He was drawn as more silver as I remember. I still really like the head sculpt and look with no mask though, which is what I liked in the first place.

[tarot]

the thing is, both the silver and the white are correct. This is just the case of different artist coloring it differently.

[since83]

On 4/8/2024 at 8:31 AM, tarot said:

the thing is, both the silver and the white are correct. This is just the case of different artist coloring it differently.

You're definitely correct. I'm lookin at a bunch of covers. That silver mock up ADour did does pop a little for me though. But it seems split down the middle on color artists as far as the covers go. 

[ADour]

On 4/8/2024 at 10:31 AM, tarot said:

the thing is, both the silver and the white are correct. This is just the case of different artist coloring it differently.

I wouldn't say that they're both correct because they were both used. Artists that colored it silver colored it right, artists that colored it white colored it wrong. Here's the design sheet for reference:

[toynewman]

Shown below via Dan Yun is an in-package look at the new Marvel Legend Series Build-a-Figure Zabu Cable Figure from Hasbro. You can purchase this figure from our sponsors BigBadToyStore.com and Entertainment Earth with suggested retail price of $24.99.

[MeGrimlock78]

Cable lookimg grizzled!

If they didn't use Randy Greene artwork as a basis for this, I'll eat my hat.

[AndyL]

On 4/11/2024 at 12:58 PM, MeGrimlock78 said:

Cable lookimg grizzled!

If they didn't use Randy Greene artwork as a basis for this, I'll eat my hat.

Randy Green is one of my fave GOAT's as far as Marvel artists go but much like Larry Stroman his time with the company was mired by terrible inkers. Well maybe not terrible inkers but certainly mismatched let's just say. In Green's case Scott Hanna made his work look blocky and angular which made it look extremely derivative of other younger and overly dynamic artists of the day like Joe Madureira and Humberto Ramos. His pencil sketches and self finished work is amazing though. He has a way of making beautiful images out of very simplistic lines.

But in this case I don't think it's based of RG's work. Green's Cable had some distinct details on his collar and knee pads and shoulder straps that differ from this version. To me this looks like Hasbro trying to direct redo and also outdo the Toybiz version just by the look of the uniform they used and the detailing on his metal arm. Of course without the additional shoulder armor or the aircycle because of budget. But I could be wrong but this is a great looking figure either way.

[MeGrimlock78]

On 4/11/2024 at 6:04 PM, AndyL said:

Randy Green is one of my fave GOAT's as far as Marvel artists go but much like Larry Stroman his time with the company was mired by terrible inkers. Well maybe not terrible inkers but certainly mismatched let's just say. In Green's case Scott Hanna made his work look blocky and angular which made it look extremely derivative of other younger and overly dynamic artists of the day like Joe Madureira and Humberto Ramos. His pencil sketches and self finished work is amazing though. He has a way of making beautiful images out of very simplistic lines.

But in this case I don't think it's based of RG's work. Green's Cable had some distinct details on his collar and knee pads and shoulder straps that differ from this version. To me this looks like Hasbro trying to direct redo and also outdo the Toybiz version just by the look of the uniform they used and the detailing on his metal arm. Of course without the additional shoulder armor or the aircycle because of budget. But I could be wrong but this is a great looking figure either way.

True true, the costume doesn't match at all...guess I'm eating my hat!

But I still think the face matches Randy's art:

[raziel0203]

I've been on the fence a bit with the figure. It's a gorgeous figure, no doubt but I really like the 90's Cable I have that came out a number of years ago. In all honesty, I'll probably end up picking this one up just because of how amazing it looks and making it work!